Art for humanity’s sake

KARACHI: To show solidarity with the victims of the gruesome Peshawar tragedy of Dec 16, 2014 and to protest against religious extremism, a young group of artists got together at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday afternoon for an interactive art activity.

More than half a dozen art enthusiasts led by senior artist and cartoonist Feica used markers and poster colours to draw images highlighting the horrors of extremism and the importance of peace and amity in society. They worked for hours on the big exhibit which they intended to put up on the club’s outer wall on Monday afternoon after giving it the finishing touches. It had slogans such as ‘no more guns’ and ‘state terrorism’ written on it alongside images that depicted the hazards of terrorism. Mostly white, blue, red and black colours were used to make the idea simple and uncomplicated.

Talking to Dawn, a young artist, Mir Askari, said: “We want to send the message of peace and harmony to the rest of the country. We want to show solidarity with the Peshawar victims. It is important that such activities happen on a regular basis because a certain sense of insensitivity is creeping into society, and art brings out the sensitive being in a person. We intend to take this further in the future, and put up such artworks on different walls in the city. ”

Another youngster, Tufail Ali, said: “Our aim is to put across the message of peace and amity. At the same time we feel that the number of people who appreciate art in our society has diminished. We want to restate the importance of art.”